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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Perspective on the Situation in Afghanistan

Aired October 12, 2001 - 08:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. at the very beginning has said that it is short on an intellectual need right now for people who know the area of Afghanistan.

Thomas Gouttierre does, though. He is from the Center for Afghan Studies at the Universities of Nebraska at Omaha, and he has a bit more perspective on just about everybody, the only center of its kind here in the U.S.

Tom, good morning to you.

THOMAS GOUTTIERRE, DIR., CTR. FOR AFGHANISTAN STUDIES: Good morning.

HEMMER: You spent about 10 years there, and you are back again I think about two years ago. Did you hear the president last night?

GOUTTIERRE: Yes, I did.

HEMMER: One of the things he said was we must make sure a post Afghanistan is stable. This talk may be premature at this point, but how do you size things up right now? If you want to stabilize this country, where do you begin, Tom?

GOUTTIERRE: Well, I think the most important thing that we do right now is to continue the humanitarian assistance that we are providing at the same time that we are attacking the Taliban and the terrorists in Afghanistan. I think that conveys a message to the Afghan people that there is a option, an alternative after this period, and that was going to be much brighter than the kind that we have been seeing, and that they have been seeing over the last two decades.

HEMMER: You know, Tom, I think the important point to make there is this: Is that message getting through to people on the ground? Do we know?

GOUTTIERRE: Well, we are not -- I'm not sure of that yet, but I am assuming that we are dropping these things amongst those people who need it most, because we have a lot of Afghans who are fleeing centers in Afghanistan itself, primarily because they are going after food sources. About a third of the Afghan population has been dependent upon foreign assistance for their food sources. So I hope we are getting that to them, and that is a collection of people in refugee camps and all, but I think we need to do much more of that, and thereupon, we need to keep talking to the Afghans about the reconstruction of their country after this war period. We need to convince them that we are going to be active as the United States in helping them to reconstruct their country, to help them work with indigenous processes, to bring about the type of government that is based on Afghan traditions that Afghan people need to have.

HEMMER: Tom, I want to show you a here, map courtesy of "The Washington Post" that breaks down, based on different ethnicities, just inside of this country alone, a country the size of Texas, tribal groups, minorities dominate here. Is this as daunting as it looks when you are trying to bring people together?

GOUTTIERRE: It is daunting, but the thing that's kind of interesting about Afghanistan is in the period leading up to the war with the soviet Union, the Afghans had cobbled together a kind of peaceful coexistence, that though not perfect, was one that was working quite well, and the government in Afghanistan and the quality life in Afghanistan, in some ways, though a poor country, was of a higher status than we see today, even in Pakistan,and in places in the Persian Gulf. Women were going to schools and not wearing veils, and ethnic groups were mixing together.

Unfortunately, the war in Afghanistan that started with the Soviets's invasion kind of broke that Humpty-Dumpty into little pieces, and it's hard to put that all back together again.

HEMMER: Indeed it might be. We also heard the president last night talk about this children's fund for the children of Afghanistan, send a dollar to the White House. I'm curious to know you're perspective on this, only because you say that a long-term plan has to be instilled here. Is it not true, though, that a generation of younger Americans, 10 years from now, will probably in all likelihood remember that dollar that they sent to the White House, and if true, would that go a long way in establishing this country and fortifying it in the future?

GOUTTIERRE: Well, I remember very well when I was a little kid, contributing money to the Holy Childhood Fund that was, you know, in our schools. That is something I think kids do remember. And I think this kind of thing that is very, very important, because the best kind of assistance throughout history has always been people to people. And we need to remember that. We need to have more people exchanged. We need to let Afghan youth know that there are people on the other side of the world who care for them, and what better than their own peers. It is going to be difficult to, again, get to them in the immediate future, but we need to try and do that as much as we can to let them know that the people of Afghanistan -- I mean, of America, are concerned about the people of Afghanistan.

HEMMER: Tom, I've only got a few seconds left. On a personal note, knowing how close you are to the people in that country, how do you feel watching this from afar? GOUTTIERRE: Well, this is a very difficult period, and I have to also hope that this is going to enable the Afghans to turn the page to a brighter future. They've had nearly three decades of instability in their country, and I hope that the United States will maintain a strong commitment to help them to reconstruct.

HEMMER: Thank you, Tom. Appreciate it. Thomas Gouttierre, from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, many thanks,

GOUTTIERRE: You bet.

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